Final answer:
Carbon trading is often proposed as a legislative measure to address climate change in the U.S., providing a way to cap and trade carbon emissions, thus incentivizing their reduction. It aligns with shifts towards natural gas and renewable energy sources and offers a structured market-based approach to combat global climate challenges.
Step-by-step explanation:
An idea often floated in the United States as a legislative response to global climate change is A) Carbon trading. This measure is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating a market where carbon emissions are capped, and companies can trade allowances for emissions, incentivizing the reduction of emissions overall. It is often seen as a market-based approach to combat climate change, aligning with the global trend towards clean energy and sustainable practices.
The notion of carbon trading comes in light of the fact that regulatory pressure on carbon emissions can lead to the retirement of coal power plants in favor of cleaner energy sources, such as natural gas or renewables like wind or solar power. The expansion of shale gas production through technological advances has made natural gas a more favorable option in the United States as it produces fewer carbon emissions compared to coal. Moreover, as countries grapple with the Prisoner's Dilemma of climate action, wherein individual incentives can undermine collective efforts, carbon trading provides a structured way to encourage nations and industries to participate in emission reduction.
Approaches to reduce CO₂ emissions in manufacturing industries, such as the command-and-control policy where specific technologies are mandated, contrast with more flexible market incentives like subsidies for cleaner technologies. Carbon trading, however, stands out as a mechanism that allows for flexibility and innovation while still aiming to achieve overall emission reduction goals.